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Mar. 06, 2013

Geneseo to host second annual 24-hour film festival

For last year's inaugural Insomnia festival, "Team Steve" created a film about Theo's odd adventure trying to retrieve his friend's iPod from Brodie Hall — led by a self-guided ball of yarn and a menacing janitor.

They had to go from concept to finished 3-minute film in 24 hours — and incorporate a political poster, a blue mug and other random items into their plot. Their efforts won them first place in the first ever Geneseo Insomnia Film Festival.

This year, teams of students will fan out over campus on April 5 for the second Insomnia Film Festival, so named by founder Joe Dolce, instructional support coordinator in Computing and Information Technology, because, you guessed it, there is no time for rest. For students, or himself, and other staff members who volunteer to help students make their way through production and editing.

Last year, 70 students participated, comprising 10 teams. Dolce was right there with them, in the Mac lab in Brodie.

"More than half the teams stopped in at one point or another to get some free CAS coffee, use the lab computers, ask for clarification on rules, or just take a break and watch some movies and play some cards with us," he says. "Really a great bunch of Insomniacs."

Dolce hopes faculty and staff will promote the film festival opportunity to students and encourage them to register. Winning films are screened April 12 as well as on GREAT Day on April 16. There are prizes.

"An event like this really challenges students to think on their feet and be creative," says Dolce. "For instance, last year one of the elements the students were tasked with using was 'a Geneseo sunrise or sunset.' Getting a Geneseo sunrise can be tough for a college student, and not nearly as scenic as a sunset. One team used a still camera to force time-lapse a sunset, one frame every 10 seconds for 20 minutes. They stitched it together and then played it in reverse to create a sunrise. It was beautiful!"

Watch a video promotion created by students Jonathan Baek '13 and William Cunningham from Lecturer in Communication Chris Pruszynski's COM363 class.